[Photos] Saigon Restaurant Buys "Critically Endangered," 230KG Mekong Giant Catfish Worth $16,000

Last month, a local fisherman pulled a 130kg Giant Barb from the Dong Nai River, netting him $10,000. Not to be outdone, on Monday a Cambodian trader sold a 230kg Mekong Giant Catfish to a restaurant in District 7.

The massive specimen, which is labeled as “critically endangered” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List and Vietnam’s Red Book label, was caught by a Cambodian fishermen in Tonlé Sap Lake, reports Zing.

Realizing its value (but perhaps unaware of its conservation status) he sold it to a trader and the fish was quickly shipped off to HCMC where it was cut up and frozen.

The manager of the restaurant, which requested that the name of the eatery be left out of the press, said that it is the largest fish he had ever bought.

The catfish, native to the Mekong basin can grow to 3m in length and weigh in at 300kg.

One has to wonder how many of these giants are left.

[Zing]